today as an organisation, we are pausing to remember the 7 staff who died in Pakistan during an attack on the office – they opened fire on the staff and detonated a bomb which ended up killing 6 staff immediately and one more due to injuries a few days later.

I ask you to join us today in remembering what has happened and praying to God/Allah about this. The staff were working to improve the lives of those within the communities of Pakistan – as an article on the World Vision website says, on that day, we lost the battle to anger and hate. Join me in asking for comfort for the families of those who lost loved ones, join me too in asking that we do not respond in a spirit of revenge, but a spirit of love. Revenge will get us no where.
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the below is taken from an article on the wvi.org website

During the rampage on World Vision’s office in Pakistan, the extremists shouted, “Why are you doing this job?” before orphaning the children of staff and of the communities of dedicated parents and staff who worked there. We cannot say what drove the attackers. But we can provide an answer to their question about our own motivation.

The majority of World Vision’s staff in Pakistan are Muslim, many of whom are born and raised in the communities they work in. All of those killed in last week’s attack were Muslim. They work tirelessly in places like Oghi to provide an alternative to the narrative of violence that extremists offer because they believe in a future of stability and peace. Aid workers, whether local or expatriate, are motivated by a straightforward interest in providing a better life for children, their families and communities. Extremists teach hate, anger and violence. Humanitarians teach tolerance. Their work to help lifts mothers, fathers and children out of the crushing oppression of poverty nurtures respect for human life, for human dignity and for human rights.

Humanitarian aid workers help communities defend their borders in battles defined not by bullets and bombs, but by development and dialogue. Armed attacks are not the contests that will ultimately determine Pakistan’s fate. No, the relevant battles are more profound: the struggle to save children from premature death in Pakistan, where 400,000 children under 5 die every year; the fight to ensure that every child has a chance at a decent education in a country where almost 49 per cent of the population is illiterate; and the insistence on good governance, in a land where millions have never exercised their basic right to vote. World Vision and other humanitarian organisations remain deeply committed to helping Pakistan’s communities win these contests. When they are won, there will be no room for extremism.

On 10 March in World Vision’s office in Oghi we lost to anger and hate. Seven dedicated World Vision staff gave their lives for a vision of a prosperous, peaceful country. But there are millions more Pakistanis who share their vision and do honour to their memory by continuing the struggle for an end to poverty and injustice. World Vision stands with them, seeking to be a faithful agent of God’s mercy and compassion for all people regardless of politics, race, gender or religion.
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